The ministers also exchanged views on cooperation for the development of the Mekong region as Thailand is slated to become chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the latter half of this year, the officials said.

On North Korea, Komura called for Thailand's support in pressing Pyongyang to account for its past abductions of Japanese and other foreign nationals. Noppadon was quoted as expressing hope for progress in the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization and for a resolution of the abduction issue.

In talks with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura a day earlier, the Thai minister said his government will continue to offer cooperation for Japan's efforts to resolve the abduction issue.

A missing Thai woman was also allegedly abducted by North Korea in the late 1970s. Unlike Thailand, Japan does not maintain diplomatic relations with the North. Tokyo and Pyongyang disagree over the number of Japanese nationals abducted and over what happened to some of them.